Ray Rice Wins Suspension Appeal: Former Baltimore Ravens Running Back Reinstated To The NFL; Now Eligible To Sign With Any NFL Team [PHOTO]

This Friday, the NFL Players Union announced that former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice won his suspension appeal for violating the NFL’s domestic violence policy.

He is now eligible to sign with any NFL team.

According to ESPN , Rice has since stated, “I would like to thank Judge Barbara Jones, the NFL Players Association, my attorneys, agents, advisors, family, friends and fans – but most importantly, my wife Janay…

I made an inexcusable mistake and accept full responsibility for my actions.

I am thankful that there was a proper appeals process in place to address this issue.

I will continue working hard to improve myself and be the best husband, father and friend, while giving back to my community and helping others to learn from my mistakes.” CNN reports that former US District Judge Barbara Jones presided over Rice’s case, and that her decision means that Rice will be immediately able to play, but any team considering him will also have to consider the consequences of signing someone whose domestic violence case has been in the public spotlight.

However, Judge Jones made a clear decision on what she thought was right.

In a statement, she wrote , “Because Rice did not mislead the commissioner and because there were no new facts on which the commissioner could base his increased suspension, I find that the imposition of the indefinite suspension was arbitrary.

I therefore vacate the second penalty imposed on Rice.” She continued , “I have found that Rice did not mislead the commissioner.

Moreover, any failure on the part of the League to understand the level of violence was not due to Rice’s description of the event, but to the inadequacy of words to convey the seriousness of domestic violence.

That the league did not realize the severity of the conduct without a visual record also speaks to their admitted failure in the past to sanction this type of conduct more severely.” Janay Rice – Rice’s wife and the victim of his aggravated assault – has since stated , “It feels unbelievable…It’s a relief.

We’ve been telling the same story for months and we always had faith that we’d done the right thing.